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NATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR CIVIC EDUCATION IN UGANDAA platform for inclusive and values based civic education

for sustainable development

Launched byH.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Ugandaand H.E. Rosa Malango, the United Nations Resident Coordinator

12th March 2019

Commonwealth Resort Hotel, Munyonyo, Kampala.

THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

FACILITATED BY THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - UNDP

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD 4

PATRON’S MESSAGE 5

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

2. BACKGROUND 8

3. THE NATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR CIVIC EDUCATION IN UGANDA – NICE-UG

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4. RATIONALE FOR A COORDINATION MECHANISM 12

5. RATIONALE FOR A PROGRESSIVE PATH 13

6. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE 14

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 14

THE PRESIDENCY 14

THE PATRON 14

THE BOARD 15

THE PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE (PIC) 15

THE SECRETARIAT 16

ANNEX: SUMMARY OF CIVIC EDUCATION CHALLENGES 19

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Civic enlightenment and competence benefits not only citizens but their leaders too. It espouses building and consolidating democracy as well as development of a country.

Acknowledging the above, the Electoral Commission (EC) and Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) are mandated by the 1995 Constitution to design and deliver voter and civic education programmes respectively. Civic and state institutions have and continue to support and compliment the mandate of the EC and UHRC. It is however worth noting that, the bulk of this education focuses on elections and related matters; as well as basic human rights. More still, the design and mode of delivery of the education is not comprehensive, not harmonized and non-sustained. This has been largely attributed to the lack of a generally accepted and shared definition of civic education, as well as a shared resource for harmonized content on common themes and objectives of civic education. The fragmented interventions and absence of a standardized quality control mechanism has made it impossible to coordinate efforts of the various actors. The lack of coordination in turn does not facilitate a shared resource mobilisation strategy to address the challenge of inadequate funding for sustained civic education.

It is therefore not a surprise that low civic awareness still registers among the main causes of low civic participation in political and socio-economic processes.

The National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda (NICE-UG) seeks to provide an inclusive platform for collaboration, coordination, synergy building and harmonization of interests and mandate of relevant actors. The initiative will facilitate collective resource mobilization for

comprehensive, effective and sustained civic education in Uganda. This will facilitate continuous, incremental and meaningful participation in processes aimed at building on and consolidating the democratic and development gains registered so far. It will also increase confidence and commitment of citizens to democratic governance thereby providing a safety net against political, economic and social conflict among the various segments of the Ugandan society.

On behalf of the Executive and Advisory Boards of NICE-UG, I convey utmost gratitude to His Excellency Yoweri Museveni, the President of the Republic of Uganda, for the support and strategic guidance to this initiative. More importantly, I thank His Excellency for entrusting me with the Chairmanship of the Board of NICE-UG.

I am delighted and humbled by the opportunity to be part of this historical process aimed at empowering Ugandans in self-governance through an all-encompassing platform - facilitating continued civic education. After all, it is no secret that behavior, character and values, which form the bedrock of the ingredients of a democratic society, are not in born but developed and nurtured over time.

For God and My Country.

Joseph N. Biribonwa

Chairman of the Board, National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda (NICE-UG)

Foreword

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Patron’s Message

A revitalized national civic education system significantly benefits all Ugandans. It will raise the impact of citizens on public affairs, and it will harness the creativity, energy, and dreams of Uganda’s youthful population to boost governance and business.

An effective civic education system is essential to prepare citizens to peacefully and constructively participate in nation building.

The National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda offers a single platform for all stakeholders to effectively engage in delivering an inclusive and values based civic education.

This is important for the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 which seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

This initiative advances Vision 2040’s aims to develop and nurture a national value system, and will contribute to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 goal to promote cultural identity, values and ethics among Africans, and to foster participatory governance and development.

The United Nations supports the Government and the people of Uganda as it implements this initiative in line with Uganda’s national priorities and the SDGs. This assistance will leverage best practices from UN Members States.

As Patron, I will provide strategic guidance to the Board, ensure periodic reporting on the initiative to the President and key stakeholders, and offer support to the Secretariat.

I look forward to our journey together.

Ms. Rosa Malango

UN Resident CoordinatorPatron, National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda (NICE-UG)

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Executive Summary

Uganda has gone through a journey to deliver a relevant, inclusive and coordinated national civic education programme to a rapidly expanding and predominantly youthful population.

His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has embarked on a structured and collaborative process between Government, the United Nations, and Civil Society through the National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda (NICE-UG).

The establishment of a national initiative for civic education provides an open platform for engagement of all stakeholder to play a role in delivering a functional and inclusive system for national civic education. This coordination mechanism is cognizant of the mandate and governance structures of the existent institutional state and non-governmental actors.

The President nominated a leadership team of eminent personalities with a diverse expertise and experience as Executive Board and Secretariat for the initiative. The Chairperson is Mr. Joseph Biribonwa, a former Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission. The Alternate Vice Chairpersons are Ms Barbara Katende of Makerere University, and Mr. Med Kaggwa, the current Chairman of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC). A substantive head of the Secretariat is Mr. Crispin Kaheru, the Coordinator the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU). The Advisory Board is comprised of a cross section of representatives from Government, Civil Society, Cultural Institutions and the Private Sector.

The Patron for the initiative is Ms Rosa Malango, the United Nations Resident Coordinator. As an apolitical actor, the Patron will draw on experiences from other United Nations Member States to ensure that the Initiative leverages best practices from around the World and remains aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The initiative will provide a central space for the coordination and harmonization of efforts and interests around civic education by the various relevant actors in Uganda. Through this process, Uganda is creating opportunities for a fresh look

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at civic education in the country, the roles of different actors, and models for collaboration between these various actors and the institutions in which they operate. The platform will be a progressive pilot initiative for at least five years with a common programme agreed upon by all stakeholders. The design of the programme and implementation strategy will be informed by the capacity and needs of the citizens as well as interests, mandate and individual capacities of stakeholders such as, government ministries, departments, agencies, political parties, faith-based organizations, cultural institutions, business community, arts and civic society institutions.

This initiative will evolve from a loose coordination platform that allows for strategic orientation, trust, relationship building and adaptive learning; to an institution with solid capacity, convening power and legal mandate to coordinate and manage a sustained civic education programme - through the various actors and sustain the dissemination of knowledge in this area across the nation.

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Background

Civic and voter education is at the heart of participatory governance process that is intended to deliver sustainable growth and development. Agenda 2063 of the African Union seeks to promote strong cultural identity, values and ethics among the African peoples as well as participatory governance and development. At a global level, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number sixteen (16) seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. It is therefore incumbent upon governments, civil society and communities to work together to ensure inclusive and meaningful participation at all times. Vision 2040 of Uganda prioritizes the need to develop and nurture a national value system to change citizens’ mindset, promote patriotism, enhance national identity and nurture a conducive ideological orientation. The National Development Plan (NDP II), under its focus on the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS), underscores the need for civic education to ensure accountability, inclusive growth and competitiveness in Uganda.

Uganda faces a major challenge (Annex – Summary of challenges) in delivering a relevant, inclusive and coordinated national civic education programme to a rapidly expanding and predominantly youthful population. While these challenges are not unlike those faced by governments in most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Government of Uganda, under the leadership of His Excellency, President Yoweri K. Museveni, is embarking on a collaborative process between Government, the United Nations, and Civil Society to tackle this problem through a National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda – NICE-UG. The establishment of a national initiative for civic education provides an open platform for stakeholder engagement in developing and delivering a functional and inclusive system for national civic education. This initiative is largely anchored on the prevailing context; aspirations of the various stakeholders; as well as provisions in the country’s strategic national policy platforms.

The President nominated a leadership team of eminent personalities with a diverse expertise and experience as Executive Board and Secretariat for the initiative. The Chairperson is Mr. Joseph Biribonwa, a former Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission. The Alternate Vice Chairpersons are Ms Barbara Katende of Makerere University, and Mr. Med Kaggwa, the current Chairman

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of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC). A substantive head of the Secretariat is Mr. Crispin Kaheru, the Coordinator the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU). The Advisory Board is comprised of a cross section of representatives from Government, Civil Society, Cultural Institutions and the Private Sector.

The Patron for the initiative is Ms Rosa Malango, the United Nations Resident Coordinator. As an apolitical actor, the Patron will draw on experiences from other United Nations Member States to ensure that the Initiative leverages best practices from around the World and remains aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The initiative will provide a central space for the coordination and harmonization of efforts and interests around civic education by the various relevant actors in Uganda. Through this process, Uganda is creating opportunities for a fresh look at civic education in the country, the roles of different actors, and models for collaboration between these various actors and the institutions in which they operate. The platform will be a progressive pilot initiative for at least five years with a common programme agreed upon by all stakeholders. The design of the programme and implementation strategy will be informed by the capacity and needs of the citizens as well as interests, mandate and individual capacities of stakeholders such as, government ministries, departments, agencies, political parties, faith-based organizations, cultural institutions, business community, arts and civic society institutions.

This initiative will evolve from a loose coordination platform that allows for strategic orientation, trust, relationship building and adaptive learning; to an institution with solid capacity, convening power and legal mandate to coordinate and manage a sustained civic education programme - through the various actors and sustain the dissemination of knowledge in this area across the nation.

Comprehensive, context-specific, and sustained civic education conducted in a manner that coordinates and harmonizes the interests and mandate of all relevant actors is expected to redirect national character, culture and promote civic mindedness. Such an approach will facilitate continuous sensitization of citizens about their rights, but more importantly, their responsibilities – anchored in concrete national ethos and value system. Empowerment in self-governance, increased awareness about government operations, and a rejuvenated national

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ethos and value system will certainly provide fertile ground for cultivation and consolidation of peace, democracy and inclusive development.

A revitalized national civic education can provide significant benefits for all Ugandans such as:

• Promoting the development of civic character by fostering recognition of public and private responsibilities and encouraging adherence to the values and principles of Uganda’s nascent constitutional democracy.

• Raising the sense of civic value, the impact citizens can have on policies at all levels of government and on the character and purposes of the associations and endeavors of civil society.

• Capitalizing on the creativity, natural idealism, energy, and hopes of young people to boost civic life in governance and business at all levels.

• Increasing understanding of the importance and relevance of politics and government and of civil society to the daily lives of all Ugandans, e.g., their rights and responsibilities, safety and security, education, employment, health, recreation, and overall quality of life.

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The National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda – NICE-UG

Based on the background above, Government of Uganda, under the leadership of His Excellency, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has embarked on a structured collaborative process between Government, the United Nations, and Civil Society to tackle this problem through a National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda – NICE-UG. This will be an inclusive and progressive platform for civic education in Uganda.

The platform will provide a central dais for the coordination and harmonization of efforts and interests around civic education by the various relevant actors in Uganda. The coordination platform will ensure synchronization of civic education initiatives by the various actors - within a global programme agreed upon by all stakeholders involved. The design of the programme and implementation strategy will be informed by defined capacity needs of the citizens as well as interests, mandate and individual capacities of actors involved. The framework is a collaboration between state actors and non-governmental actors to effectively deliver sustained civic education.

The platform will be a progressive pilot initiative for at least five years during which the governance structure and actors are expected to deliberate, agree on, and set up a sound institutional and legal infrastructure that allows the platform to evolve into a stand-alone institution anchored in a well-defined legal and administrative framework.

The initiative is largely anchored on the prevailing context; aspirations of the various stakeholders; as well as provisions in Uganda’s strategic national policy platforms. The initiative will also draw a link between the national aspirations for civic competence and those of the various sub regional and global bodies. To ensure this is achieved, there will be sustained strategic coordination between the Board as well as the Secretariat of the Initiative, and the respective regional and global platforms. In addition, actions like strategic placement of selected persons at the secretariats of the respective regional and global bodies will be considered. This will aid continuous learning, which will then be beneficial to the Initiative in Uganda.

There will also be strategic alignment of the Initiative to selected development partners for purposes of both technical and financial support.

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Rationale for a Coordination Mechanism

Civic enlightenment and competence benefits not only citizens but their leaders too. It is an aspect that espouses building and consolidating democracy as well as development of a country. Comprehensive, sustained, and well-coordinated civic education will inform a sustained citizen awareness and engagement in key policy and political processes aimed at building and consolidating democratic and development gains registered so far.

While providing for a more accountable and responsive government on one hand, as well as a responsible and active citizenship on the other hand; comprehensive, sustained and well-coordinated civic education will also increase confidence and commitment of citizens to democratic governance thereby providing a safety net against political, economic and social conflict among the various segments of the Ugandan society.

Although the Uganda Human Rights Commission and Electoral Commission hold the constitutional mandate to conduct civic and voter education respectively, there is need to acknowledge the enormous magnitude of this work, hence the value in collaboration and synergy building to effectively deliver sustained comprehensive civic education by various relevant public and private sector actors.

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Rationale for a Progressive Path

This coordination mechanism is cognizant of the mandate and governance

structures of the existent institutional state and non-governmental actors. The

Initiative will evolve from a loose coordination platform that allows for strategic

orientation, trust and relationship building as well as adaptive learning for the

actors; to a legal independent institution with solid capacity, convening power and

legal mandate to coordinate and manage a sustained civic education programme

- through the various actors.

A progressive platform and mechanism will also enable the much-needed

continued learning and consultative process with national stakeholders and

existent models from the region and beyond. The lessons learned will inform the

adaptive design and implementation of the coordination mechanism.

There are already existent domestic efforts to conduct civic education or segments

of it. There is also an array of aspirations across the populace in relation to what

civic education programme(s) should be like, achieve or even who should conduct

civic education in the Uganda. Besides, both in the region and beyond, there are

countries, which have made an attempt to centralize and deliberately invest in

mechanisms for context specific and sustained civic education programmes. All

these present an invaluable opportunity to learn from both the best practices and

challenges faced in each of the initiatives to inform the path of the platform.

Besides, the experiences of civil society, as well as other government agencies,

will be harnessed to provide significant information to inform the development of

an inclusive NICE-U platform and civic education policy. Such experiences will

demystify challenges as well as what has worked well with various audiences.

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Governance Structure

A five-level governance structure is established for the civic education coordination platform. Each of the levels of structure will be tasked with clearly defined yet complimentary roles intended to achieve the goal of the platform. The tasks highlighted under this framework may not necessarily reflect the mandate of the respective actors – in totality.

In broad terms, the platform is expected to set ground for the Initiative to evolve from a loose platform to an independent administrative entity. Among the key tasks for the platform within the initial phases will be:

• Support a consultative and participatory process leading to the adoption of the National Policy on Civic Education.

• Support sequentially selected elements of civic and voter education programming.

• Support strategic integration of civic education in the national education curriculum.

• Lead an appropriate process to establish a robust administrative framework for the National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda.

Roles and Responsibilities

In addition to the overall tasks for the platform in the interim, the different levels of the governance structure will be responsible for the following specific tasks.

The Presidency

The platform is created as a presidential initiative in the initial phase of its life. As such, the President has appointed a Board; and nominated the UN Resident Coordinator to serve as the Patron for the Initiative. The President will provide political convening power of all the state and non-state actors who comprise the Programme Implementation Committee and provide strategic political leadership.

The Patron

The patron will:

• Provide strategic guidance to the Board.• Ensure allignment to the Sustainable Development Goals• Ensure periodic reporting on the initiative to the President and key

stakeholders.• Offer support to the Secretariat.

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The Board

The platform will be governed by a lean and highly expert Executive Board which includes the Chairperson, and two Vice Chairpersons and a Secretary (as an ex-officio). The Executive Board will hold periodic meetings, which will be attended by the Patron, Chairperson of the Programme Implementation Committee (PIC). The Advisory Board is comprised of a cross section of representatives from Government, Civil Society, Cultural Institutions and the Private Sector. The Advisory Board will meet quarterly.

The Board will be responsible for:

• Policy oversight;

• Receipt and consideration of general programme and financial reports from the Chairperson of the Programme Implementation Committee, and provide guidance on mitigation of challenges to the programme;

• Supporting the implementation of the programme through occasionally providing technical support to the implementing actors in respective regions allocated to each of the members for supervision.

• Provide guidance on potential social investment opportunities for the initiative.

The Programme Implementation Committee (PIC)

This will comprise all state and non-state actors mandated or with interest in conducting civic education in Uganda. Members of the PIC will be drawn from both national and sub national levels; with consideration to representation of various configurations of the population across the country. The PIC will be responsible for:

• In liaison with the Secretariat design a robust, comprehensive civic education programme

• Implementation of the civic education programme through their respective institutional programming.

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The Secretariat

The Secretariat will comprise of a small team of highly skilled technical staff appointed by the Board Chairperson in consultation with the Patron. The Secretariat will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the civic education programme. The secretariat will be responsible for:

• Conducting a stakeholder mapping exercise to identify actors interested in the initiative and draw a database of the PIC membership.

• Develop and popularize a Memorandum of Understanding for members of the PIC.

• Develop a comprehensive communication strategy for the civic education programme.

• Develop a comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning strategy for the programme.

• Rally joint civic and voter education initiatives for selected thematic elements.

The Secretariat will:

In the short term:

• Develop background documentation that will inform the foundation and subsequent operationalization of the initiative.

• Conduct strategic consultations with key relevant stakeholders on the structure, content and methodology for the initiative.

• Undertake learning and experience sharing missions to similar existent initiatives.

• Liaise with the PIC to design a phased five-year civic education programme to be implemented by the various actors at the different levels across the country.

• Support a consultative and participatory process leading to the adoption of the National Policy on Civic Education.

In the Medium term:

• In liaison with and guidance of the Patron and Board, fundraise for the civic education programme on behalf of the PIC.

• Receive and manage the civic education fund in line with the PIC’s strategic objectives.

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• Ensure proper and timely programme and financial reporting by the PIC members, for funds disbursed.

• Organise and facilitate periodic Board and PIC meetings.

• Provide periodic general programme and financial reporting to the PIC and Board.

• Ensure and facilitate continued monitoring and evaluation of the programme to allow for adaptation.

In the long term:

• Support strategic integration of civic education in the national education curriculum.

• Take lead on a legal audit process to inform comprehensive legislation to establish and give mandate to the civic education initiative.

• Lead an appropriate process to establish a legal framework for the National Initiative for Civic Education in Uganda.

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Annex: Summary of Civic Education Challenges

What are some of the critical bottlenecks to an effective system for civic education in Uganda?

1. Coordination: Whereas the Constitution provides a legal basis for civic education, there is lack of a common understanding about the coordination mechanism, particularly regarding the oversight role of UHRC stipulated under Article 52 (1) (g). This is particularly important given that a wide range of civic education actors and providers as established by the legal framework1. In the list below, the magnitude of the coordination challenge is clear:

• Office of the President: presides over the Cabinet that has the overall responsibility to determine, formulate and implement government policy (Articles 99 and 111), also handles mass mobilization, as well as ethics and integrity under the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity (DEI).

• Office of the Prime Minister (OPM): Leader of Government Business in Parliament and is responsible for the coordination and implementation of government policies (Article 108A (2) (a) and (b)).

• Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC): carries out constitution education as well as formulate, implement and oversee civic education programmes (Article 52 (1) (c), (e), (f), and (g)).

• Electoral Commission (EC): formulate and implement voter education programmes (Article 61 (1) (g))

• Inspectorate of Government: stimulate public awareness about the values of constitutionalism and the activities of the Inspectorate (Article 225 (1) (f))

• Judicial Service Commission (JSC): educate and disseminate information to the public about laws and the administration of justice in Uganda (Article 147 (1) (c))

• Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development: provides information to sections of society like women, youth, the older persons, PWDs, minorities, traditional/cultural institutions to participate and exercise their civic rights; provides policy guidance and technical support supervision to local government to reach grassroots. It also undertakes human rights mainstreaming and functional adult literacy programmes that incorporate civic education content (Articles 20 (2), 21, 31, 32, 33,34,35,36, 38 (1), 38 (2), 41, 246)

1 Uganda National Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Draft National Civic Education Policy, July 2013

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• Ministry of Local Government: ensure that government obligations are known and fulfilled at all levels of the local government in accordance with the principle of devolution and decentralization (Articles 176 and 20 (2).

• Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development: mobilizes and provides the necessary funding for government programmes including civic education programmes (Article 153 and 159).

• Ministry of Education and Sports: provides for the teaching of the Constitution in all educational institutions (Articles 4 (b), 30, 34 (2), 34 (3), 34 (4) and 21 (4) (a)).

• Ministry of Defence: ensure the teaching of and upholding of the Constitution in training institutions of the armed forces (Article 4 (b)).

• Civil Society Organizations (CSOs): create awareness among different individuals and groups on the Constitution, human rights and democracy (Article 20 (2), 29 (b), 29 (c), 38 (1), 38 (2), the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy I (i), Objective II (vi), Objective XXIX (f).

• Media: provide information and educate the public on the citizens’ rights and duties (Articles 29 (a) and 41).

• Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs: anchor ministry for UHRC and the National Civic Education Policy (Article 119 and 250).

The absence of a strategic coordinated national platform/drive on civic education is adversely impacting on citizenship owing to low levels of civic competence, and limited engagement in democratic and development processes. The NDP 22 has explicitly noted the following challenges: “inadequate community mobilization for development resulting in general poor attitude towards work, civic disposition, and neglect of responsibilities by communities. This is mainly due to breakdown of social values, peoples’ expectations of hand-outs from government and CSOs, mistrust of communities towards leaders due to persistent unfulfilled promises; limited Local Economic Development (LED) content in Local Government Development Plans; and limited funding for participatory planning and development function of LGs”.

2. Common Understanding: With neither a generally accepted definition of civic education, nor widely shared content or curriculum to address common themes and objectives of civic education, nor standard setting or quality control

2 National Development Plan II , http://npa.ug/wp-content/uploads/NDPII-Final.pdf Accessed 21st August 2018

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mechanisms, nor an established information-sharing mechanism, this has made the institutional coordination problem even more daunting. As a result, civic education delivery has been and continues to remain inadequate, intermittent and uncoordinated. The UHRC has reported annually to Parliament its inability to oversee all civic education programmes by other partners and key stakeholders as required by the Constitution3.

3. Funding: Even with the numerous fragmented efforts in civic education, these are inadequately funded – civic education is underfunded and lacks cohesion and is mostly funded by development partners4.

A significant part of the civic education that has been delivered in Uganda has been funded with support from development partners. Civil Society Organisations are mainly funded by donors, while in some government MDAs with a Constitutional mandate on civic education, the civic education function has been largely been supported by development partners. UHRC has reported annually to Parliament its inability to carry out continuous and country-wide civic education owing to inadequate resources from the government5.

4. Educational Curriculum: There is no civic education curriculum for schools and educational institutions. Civics as an examinable subject was removed from the primary school curriculum. Although it was to some extent integrated into the already packed Social Studies subject, it inevitably got relegated further. At the secondary school level, Political Education which is some form of civic education is optional. Consequently, Ugandans are passing through the formal education system without adequate civic education that would empower them to be more effective as adult citizens6.

5. Voter Education Vs Civic Education: The confusion created over the years

has made voter education synonymous with civic education7 – the problem of concurrently conducting Civic Education and campaigns8. This is because in every electoral period, significant efforts are made by stakeholders led by the Electoral Commission to deliver “civic education” which is mainly limited to voter

3 Uganda National Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Draft National Civic Education Policy, July 20134 18th Annual Report of the Uganda Human Rights Commission - http://uhrc.ug/uhrc-18th-annual-report

Accessed on 23rd August 2018 5 Uganda National Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Draft National Civic Education Policy, July 20136 Uganda National Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Draft National Civic Education Policy, July 20137 Uganda National Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Draft National Civic Education Policy, July 20138 M Katusiimeh, Civic Education and the Promotion of Participatory Democracy in Uganda, Uganda

Christian University:)

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education and which always ends with the elections. This proximity to elections means that only voter education messages, which are just a narrow component of civic education, generally dominate at the expense of broader and longer term civic education efforts aimed at citizen transformation and empowerment. Even then, voter education itself has been deficient as evidenced, for example, by the high rate of invalid ballots, bribery of voters, voter apathy and low participation in most election activities.

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NICE-UG SecretariatPlot 11, Yusuf Lule Road,

P.O.Box 7184, Kampala – Uganda Tel: +256 417 112 100 ext. 194